UN urged to nominate representative for safety of journalists

 JournalismPakistan.com |  Published: 30 October 2015

The UN is being urged by Reporters Without Borders to nominate a Special Representative to ensure the safety of journalists. This call comes as over 700 journalists have been killed in the past decade, highlighting ongoing threats to media professionals.

Summary

ISLAMABAD - Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is launching a call to the United Nations (UN) to take concrete action to nominate a Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary General for the safety of journalists. November 2, 2015 is the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists.

The press freedom organization called on the UN to create as soon as possible the position of Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary General for the safety of journalists. Despite various resolutions adopted on this topic in the past decade the statistics of journalists killed in the course of their work remain very troubling, says a press release.

During the last 10 years, more than 700 reporters have been killed in the line of duty, said the press release. On May 27, the day Resolution 2222 was adopted by the UN Security Council, RSF’s Secretary General Christopher Deloire addressed the ambassadors of the Security Council hailing this historic resolution but also calling for concrete action.

“These legal advances have not been translated into action if we are to judge by the number of journalists killed each year,” Christopher Deloire declared. The issue regarding safety of journalists is not an absence of applicable law but rather a lack of means of ensuring compliance.

Only a special representative working closely with the UN secretary general will have the political weight, the capacity to act quickly, and the legitimacy to coordinate with all UN bodies to implement change.

RSB said that giving the special representative a central and permanent position under the UN Secretary General aegis could significantly empower the UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity and all UN efforts led by UNESCO, the Human Rights Council, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression. - APP